American magazines took a beating in the first six months of 2008.
Newsstand sales fell by more than six per cent, hardest hit were fashion magazines and celebrity-gossip weeklies in ABC figures which have come out a day before the UK equivalents.
Biggest newsstand plunges were InTouch, down almost 29 per cent and Life & Style, down 30 per cent. Also down was US Weekly, which fell 10 per cent (even though its total circulation was up a modest 1.3 per cent) Vogue which fell almost 15 per cent, Cosmopolitan down 6 per cent and the Oprah Magazine, down 17 per cent.
Among news weeklies Time fell 7 per cent and Newsweek, was down 17 per cent. The only magazines to buck the trend were celebrity title People (up 5 per cent) and OK! (up 19 percent).
Related
Vanity Fair, paradoxically was up 6 per cent at news-stands but overall was down just under one per cent. The New Yorker fell both in newsstands sales (3.6 per cent) and overall (2.4 per cent). Glamour was down 9 per cent in street sales, but up 4 per cent in total circulation.
The main reason most publishers say was the economy and a fall off in casual readers seeking to save money because of soaring gasoline and food prices. Overall US magazines, according to the mid year report of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, sold 350 million copies of which 290 million were paid in advance subscriptions.
Content from our partners
Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog
